lisalisabol

Q: Why SO many random DCIM Folders?  I want ONE!

I have an ipone 4s.  I have had an iPhone for over 5 years now.  Before the DCIM folder would hold 1000 pictures.  As soon as I would take another picture (ei 1001) then it would start another folder for those thousand pictures.  So by time I got into the 5000+ I had over 5 folders.  They are random (ei 851PKYZB, 851XTGOR, 914ELZYG, etc.) Last month or so when I plugged my phone into the computer to copy my photos onto my desktop I had ONE folder.  It was glorious not to have to open every folder to figure out where the newest pictures were.

 

Then today I plug my phone into my computer to copy pictures over and I now have a folder for every 100 pictures.  YES TONS and TONS of folders (55 folders to be exact) and no rhythm or reason to the numbering system.  Some with only 1 picture in them, as I delete a lot of pictures after transferring to my computer.  So when I wanted to find todays pictures I had to open over half of them to find my pictures.

 

HOW do I get it back to ONE folder?  I understand the reason there is a DCIM folder to begin with, but I really think I should be able to have 1 folder or at least have them numbered 100APPLE, 101APPLE, or something that is numeric and I know that the very last folder are the new pictures.  Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  (I have the newest iOS 8.1.2) Thanks in advance.

iOS 7.1

Posted on Dec 13, 2014 6:24 AM

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Q: Why SO many random DCIM Folders?  I want ONE!

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  • by drume,

    drume drume Sep 17, 2015 4:15 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Sep 17, 2015 4:15 PM in response to Csound1

    Can you please stop?  DenverJohn1 gave some interesting information that some of us enjoyed.  Sheesh, let it go.

  • by drume,

    drume drume Sep 17, 2015 4:16 PM in response to DenverJohn1
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Sep 17, 2015 4:16 PM in response to DenverJohn1

    DenverJohn1, thanks.  Interesting stuff!  (Don't mind the haters.)

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 17, 2015 4:17 PM in response to drume
    Level 9 (51,166 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 17, 2015 4:17 PM in response to drume

    drume wrote:

     

    Can you please stop?  DenverJohn1 gave some interesting information that some of us enjoyed.  Sheesh, let it go.

    I asked what you were talking about, you're the one who is all wigged out about a question. Lie down for a while.

  • by Philly_Phan,

    Philly_Phan Philly_Phan Sep 17, 2015 4:17 PM in response to drume
    Level 6 (13,576 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 17, 2015 4:17 PM in response to drume

    drume wrote:

     

    Can you please stop?  DenverJohn1 gave some interesting totally useless information that some of us enjoyed.  Sheesh, let it go.

  • by w3dk,

    w3dk w3dk Sep 17, 2015 4:41 PM in response to drume
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 17, 2015 4:41 PM in response to drume

    drume wrote:

     

    Hold on.  Now Apple is doing it wrong too?!  But organizing it more intuitively will break it!  Time for a new thread complaining that Apple is breaking esoteric DCIM standards.  Scandalous!

     

    Possibly a tongue in cheek comment, but the "new" folder structure is still following the DCIM (aka DCF) "standards".

  • by ARPU99,

    ARPU99 ARPU99 Sep 18, 2015 6:17 AM in response to lisalisabol
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 18, 2015 6:17 AM in response to lisalisabol

    Now that Apple uses the new format, would someone be willing to run a test to see if it is possible to move a folder off of the iPhone to the PC and then later move it back to the iPhone without it causing any problems?  These would be the steps to follow:

    1. In Windows Explorer, open DCIM folder under Internal Storage of iPhone.

    2. Move one of the Apple folders (e.g. 102APPLE) to your PC.  Will it let you move it?

    3. Verify that folder structure on iPhone remains intact.  Did the file names remain in order without the 102APPLE?

    4. Disconnect iPhone from PC and verify that Photos is working ok.

    5. Reconnect iPhone to PC.

    6. In Windows Explorer, open DCIM folder under Internal Storage of iPhone.

    6. Verify whether 102APPLE is missing or whether the folders were renamed.

    7. If 102APPLE is missing, move 102APPLE folder from PC back to DCIM foder under Internal Storage of iPhone.

    8. Verify that the folder structure now shows 102APPLE folder.

    9. Disconnect iPhone from PC.

    10. Open iPhone and verify that the pictures that were in 102APPLE folder are on the iPhone again and that Photos is working properly.

     

    Thanks!

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 18, 2015 6:33 AM in response to ARPU99
    Level 9 (51,166 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 18, 2015 6:33 AM in response to ARPU99

    Do you not have a Windows machine?

  • by ARPU99,

    ARPU99 ARPU99 Sep 18, 2015 6:34 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 18, 2015 6:34 AM in response to Csound1

    I do, but I don't want to cause any problems. I figured someone on this thread might be willing to test it.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 18, 2015 6:38 AM in response to ARPU99
    Level 9 (51,166 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 18, 2015 6:38 AM in response to ARPU99

    That's very nice of you, let someone else do the test for you when you could just do it yourself.

  • by mdrolle,

    mdrolle mdrolle Sep 18, 2015 7:11 AM in response to ARPU99
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 18, 2015 7:11 AM in response to ARPU99

    Hey ARPU99,

    I did the test for you, got the results I expected.

    The "move" from internal storage to PC isn't really a move, it's a copy. You can delete the files from within the folders (on internal storage), but it wouldn't allow me to delete the folder myself. It does however delete the folder on internal storage on reboot if it is empty. I didn't check to see where the naming increment starts after that.

     

    The folder is intact on the PC, but its content organization is controlled by whatever your view settings are in windows. In my test it stayed in the original sort until I changed my view. It is chronological and easy to get back to.

     

    You cannot copy back to the iPhone so far as I've found. I have to do that with iTunes (which I don't like, but deal with)

    Hope that helps.

  • by tab1075,

    tab1075 tab1075 Sep 18, 2015 8:43 AM in response to DenverJohn1
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Sep 18, 2015 8:43 AM in response to DenverJohn1

    What they do is come here to pick a fight knowing that we don't have enough points to report their posts. They instigate an argument and when we defend ourselves against the trolling, they report our posts to be deleted. Then they pretend to be the righteous ones. They didn't need to keep coming back here because they don't use the same tool. They know those of us who do were going to keep using it and keep asking for a solution, so they could've easily moved on and let us be. Now that iOS 9 has brought about these changes, they could easily go about their business and forget about this thread, but us little level 1's are easy targets, so they keep coming. Levels & points mean absolutely nothing to me. I see how the ones with higher levels & more points treat others in these forums and how they stick up for one another and boost each others' points, even when they're rude to people. They accuse us of posting "totally useless information," but what have they contributed for the last several pages of this thread that was helpful? Nothing. What really matters to me is how you carry yourself. I'll take a level 1 with no points who's helpful & courteous any day.

     

    In the end, the ones who kept coming back here to tell us we're using the wrong tool, we're doing it wrong, and that Apple couldn't do what we were asking them to do...well, they were wrong. This thread and the feedback that many of us sent to Apple paid off. I'm happy to see they were listening and did something for us "lowly" Windows Explorer users.

     

    At first I thought the 1969 date was just an oversight on Apple's part, but then I Googled it because it made me curious that they used such a precise date. My first guess was that it was related to Steve Jobs somehow. I think that would've been a nice nod if they had done something like that. The mentalfloss article I ended up linking to in my last post talks all about the Unix epoch date.

     

    I have no problem keeping an eye on this thread until the OP marks it as solved just in case others come here looking for help and don't read past posts.

     

    I wonder what determines how many DCIM folders we end up with after updating to iOS 9, because ARPU99 said they went from 39 folders to 22. Even 22 seems high because I went from over 40 down to 4. And I see where you went from 77 to 4 as well. I wonder why ARPU99 ended up with a different result?

     

    mdrolle
    wrote:

     

    Hey ARPU99,

    I did the test for you, got the results I expected.

     

    Thanks for running the test for ARPU99. It's understandable why he/she didn't want to try it. Some people aren't comfortable with doing something like that and don't want to make things worse. There's nothing wrong with asking if anyone else wants to give it a go. Your results are what I expected too. I didn't expect the behavior of the transfer to change. It's just nice to see better organization.

  • by drume,

    drume drume Sep 18, 2015 9:08 AM in response to tab1075
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Sep 18, 2015 9:08 AM in response to tab1075

    tab1075 wrote:

     

    I wonder what determines how many DCIM folders we end up with after updating to iOS 9, because ARPU99 said they went from 39 folders to 22. Even 22 seems high because I went from over 40 down to 4. And I see where you went from 77 to 4 as well. I wonder why ARPU99 ended up with a different result?

    Thanks tab1075.  I wondered the same thing.  My first guess would be that it only consolidates when it knows it won't be conflating folders with the same (or crossing) image numbers.  Can someone verify their image number ranges in the old and new folders?

     

    P.S.- I absolutely agree with you on the bullying culture that seems all too prevalent on multiple threads.  In fairness, I think it's a very small percentage of the higher level contributors, but the good ones rarely seem willing to stand up to the bad ones.  "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

  • by ARPU99,

    ARPU99 ARPU99 Sep 18, 2015 10:33 AM in response to mdrolle
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 18, 2015 10:33 AM in response to mdrolle

    mdrolle,

     

    Thanks for taking the time to do the test.   I'm glad you brought this up....

    Re: You cannot copy back to the iPhone so far as I've found. I have to do that with iTunes (which I don't like, but deal with)

    Here's the major problem I am trying to solve. I have pictures on my iPhone that I want to keep there.  I also have some pictures that I have already moved off of my iPhone and store on my PC.  Now I want to move those pictures back to the iPhone.  Is it possible to move them back to the iPhone without first moving all of the new pictures to the same folder on the PC?  Everything I have read and when I talked to Apple Support, they have said by doing a Sync, I would lose all of the pictures on the iPhone because they would be replaced by the pictures that are in the folder that I Sync.

    How do you do it?

    Thanks!

  • by ARPU99,

    ARPU99 ARPU99 Sep 18, 2015 10:42 AM in response to tab1075
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 18, 2015 10:42 AM in response to tab1075

    tab1075,

     

    Well said.  Thank you for understanding. You nailed it on why I didn't want to do the test myself.  If I had an extra iPhone lying around, I would have done the test.  My bet is that some on this thread have extras and even use them for testing.  I only started reading this thread a few days ago.  When I noticed the DCIM change, I posted the info about the change in folder names because I knew it would be of great interest.  I will take a look at my 22 folders to try to figure out why some only have a couple of pictures and others have hundreds.  Thanks again.

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Sep 18, 2015 11:09 AM in response to ARPU99
    Level 7 (26,809 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 18, 2015 11:09 AM in response to ARPU99

    Hi ARPU99,

     

    The only way to get photos that are on your phone from your PC, and to keep the ones that are already there, is to import the photos on the device to your PC first, then to go into iTunes and sync. You would select the Photos Device Profile screen once you hooked up your phone to the PC and selected it in iTunes, and then select the photos you want sync'd back to the phone.

     

    If you only want a specific subset of the photos housed in your Photos app on the PC to be sync'd back, create an album of those photos, and then just select that album for the sync.

     

    Here are instructions for the import:

     

    PHOTO IMPORT IOS TO MAC/PC

     

    And here are the ones for the sync:

     

    Sync photos from your computer to your iOS device using iTunes - Apple Support

     

    Best of luck,

     

    GB

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